It was a slow week for newreleases with none coming close to selling 1 million units. However, this is common during this part of the year, and we still saw two new releases topping the chart. The best of these was Notorious, which sold 606,000 units generating $14.54 million in revenue.
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There were only three newreleases to chart this week; however, those three new releases all reach the top six. This includes a new number one film, The Wrestler, which should have strong legs thanks to amazing reviews.
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There were just a pair of newreleases to reach the top 30 on the sales chart this week. This includes the new number one DVD; however, sales of The Spirit were hardly impressive as it managed just 334,000 units and $6.27 million in sales.
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There were plenty of newreleases to chart this week, including the top two sellers. The new number one was Bedtime Stories 1.46 million units for its first full week of release, while including early sales it has made $28.78 million from 1.68 million in sales.
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The last of the winter releases are trickling on to the home market; however, we are at the tale end of the hits and are getting the near misses now, which leaves a void in major hits at the top. I do like Deadliest Catch - Season 4, but I can't rate a featureless DVD as the DVD Pick of the Week. So that honor goes to Doubt, which is worth buying on DVD or Blu-ray. But I would go with the latter. As has become customary, this week's list has to be split into two, with the second part found here.
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Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa fell from second to sixth with $9.07 million on 5601 screens in 48 markets for a total of $380.42 million. No openings hurt the film this past weekend, and its only $1 million markets this past weekend were South Korea at $1.20 million on 432 screens and Poland at $1.09 million on 130. The film has made $3.76 million after two weeks in the former and $7.72 million after three weeks in the latter.
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Australia reached a major milestone this past weekend as it topped $100 million internationally. Over the weekend the film added $12.33 million on 4901 screens in 55 markets for a total of $103.30 million internationally and $151.06 million worldwide. Additionally, with openings in Italy, Brazil, China, Russia, and Japan still ahead, the film has a shot at $200 million worldwide. That would be enough to cover the film's production budget, after taking into account Australia's generous tax incentives.
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The Day the Earth Stood Still fell out of the top five, as it was down 46% to $10.91 million on 5008 screens in 42 markets for a total of $129.59 million internationally and $204.01 million worldwide. The film's best market was Japan, where it remained in second place with $2.71 million on 642 screens over the weekend for a total of $19.19 million after three.
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Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa remained in first place over the weekend with $37.54 million on 6211 screens in 49 markets for a total of $285.35 million after two months of release. This includes no major openings over the weekend, but the holiday did boost the box office in a number of markets, including Italy where it was up 56% to $9.76 million on 583 screens over the weekend for a total of $21.18 million after two. Meanwhile in France the film was down just 6% to $5.11 million on 834 screens over the weekend for a total of $31.25 million after four. With openings in China, Poland, South Korea, and Japan ahead of the film, $400 million internationally and $600 million worldwide is within reach.
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Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa returned to the number one spot on the international chart with $38.79 million on 5959 screens in 56 markets for a total of $224.34 million. The film opened in first place in Italy with $6.29 million on 565 screens, while it also topped the charts in Australia with $2.44 million on 368 screens over the weekend and $4.84 million including previews. Holdovers include France, where the film was down a mere 15% to $5.42 million on 829 screens over the weekend for a total of $23.07 million after three. It was nearly as strong in Germany with $4.99 million on 839 screens over the weekend for a total of $26.48 million. Meanwhile in the U.K. it added $2.75 million on 551 screens over the weekend for a total of $19.05 million.
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The Day the Earth Stood Still opened globally over the weekend and took top spot on the international chart with $39.22 million on 7,715 screens in 90 markets. This is a good start, but not a great start and it appears to be heading for $150 million internationally and $250 million worldwide. Individual markets were led by Russia where the film made $5.89 million on 725 screens, but it was also a big hit in the U.K. ($4.21 million on 465 screens including previews); Spain ($3.21 million on 464 screens); and Italy ($2.35 million on 448). On the other hand, it had to settle for second place in France ($3.40 million on 606 screens); Germany ($2.95 million on 804 screens); and Mexico ($2.87 million on 804). The film has yet to open in a few major markets like Japan, South Korea, and Australia, and it opens in all three markets over the next few weeks.
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The Day the Earth Stood Still missed expectations during its opening weekend, at least in regular theaters. On IMAX it was fantastic, earning an estimated $3.7 million on just 123 screens to give it a per IMAX average of $30,000. That's an average that is 3.5 times higher than its overall per theater average.
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The Day the Earth Stood Still topped the weekend chart with $31 million, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.
That's a strong start, helped in particular by $3.8 million on 123 IMAX screens, and gives Fox a nice lead-in to the holidays, with no competitive film coming out until Christmas Day.
However, weak reviews and tepid word of mouth will not help it, and a $100 million run is far from assured at this stage.
Four Christmases had an impressive week-to-week drop of just 20% to earn an estimated $13 million and finish second.
Its success probably dampened the opening weekend for Nothing Like the Holidays, which pulled in $3.5 million from 1,671 theaters.
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One of the busier week's in a while when it comes to new releases, and there's a mix of wide releases and smaller Oscar hopefuls. It's the former category that has the best sites, with the widest release of the week, The Day the Earth Stood Still, having the best Official Site. On a side note, we also have a previous winner of the Weekly Website Award, Delgo - Official Site, and since the format of this column has changed since then, that will be the last time that happens.
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While Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was pushed back to next summer and this left a gab in the IMAX schedule, it hasn't been entirely quiet lately. This week it was reported that Dolphins and Whales Tribes of the Ocean 3D reached $10 million worldwide, which is a great milestone for the film. The film continues to tour the United States, while it will make its debut in France, Mexico, and other markets in the coming months.
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We end the year with a winning streak, one that will hopefully continue right through the New Year holiday. It seems nearly every film released this month is either an Oscar contender or a potential $100 million hit. Sometimes both. If all six films with box office potentials of $100 million or more reach that milestone, and Bolt and Four Christmases have the legs to make it there as well, we could set the record for most $100 million released in a single year. (It is currently at 29 films set in 2003.)
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Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa opened in more than 4,000 theaters in total, and that included 129 IMAX screens, where it earned $3.63 million over the weekend.
That gave it a per theater average of just over $28,000 on the really big screen, which was close to double its regular per theater average.
It is also more than twice the $1.6 million Eagle Eye opened with in 84 theaters in September.
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Full financial estimates for this film, including domestic and international box office, video sales, video rentals, TV and ancillary revenue
are available through our research services. For more information, please contact us at research@the-numbers.com.